Gaseous fuels

You can claim fuel tax credits for the gaseous fuel (acquired from 1 December 2011) you use in your business.

Gaseous fuels are:

• liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
• liquefied natural gas (LNG)
• compressed natural gas (CNG).

For fuel tax credit purposes, gaseous fuels are either:

• transport duty paid gaseous fuels which have duty paid on them because they are:  
  • intended for use in an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle or vessel
  • for mixed use (both transport and non-transport use) or the end use was unknown when duty was paid.
   
• non-transport gaseous fuels which have no duty paid on them (fuel tax credits are not payable on these gaseous fuels).

Transport duty paid

Fuel tax credits for transport duty paid gaseous fuels used in heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads are reduced by the road user charge, which currently reduces any fuel tax credits to nil.

If you acquire transport duty paid gaseous fuel and use it in eligible business activities, including non-transport activities, you may be entitled to fuel tax credits.

If gaseous fuels are delivered for mixed use (transport and non-transport) or where the end use is unknown), full duty is applied. Therefore, if you use gaseous fuels supplied to you at the transport duty paid rate and you use it for a non-transport use, such as in forklifts, heating or electricity generation, then you may be entitled to fuel tax credits.

Fuel tax credit rates

The fuel tax credit rate you can claim depends on whether the gaseous fuel was used in:

• a heavy vehicle for powering auxiliary equipment while travelling on a public road, for example refrigeration units or the mixing barrel on a concrete truck
• business activities (not on public roads) – refer to All business activities (not on public roads).

Invoices for non-transport duty paid LPG

A supplier of non-transport duty paid LPG generally gives the buyer a notice stating that the fuel is not for transport use. This notice should appear on the first page of the tax invoice for the fuel and contain the following words:

'Not to be used or supplied for transport use. Penalties apply.'

A supplier does not need to supply a notice when the LPG is supplied:

• in or into a container of 210kg capacity or less
• to residential premises and is for private use only.

Find out more

Taxation of alternative fuels

Fuel tax credit rates and eligible fuels